electionstracker

Netherlands 1963 general election

What was the result of the 1963 general election in the Netherlands?

Catholic People's Party won 50 of 150 seats with 31.9% of the vote. 95.1% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Netherlands
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Catholic People's Party won 50 of 150 seats with 31.9% of the vote; 95.1% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 0.4 points on 1959.

  • Catholic People's Party 50 +1 seat 31.9% +0.3 points
  • Labour Party 43 −5 seats 28.0% −2.4 points
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 16 −3 seats 10.3% −1.9 points
  • Anti-Revolutionary Party 13 −1 seat 8.7% −0.7 points
  • Christian Historical Union 13 +1 seat 8.6% +0.5 points
  • Pacifist Socialist Party 4 +2 seats 3.0% +1.2 points
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands 4 +1 seat 2.8% +0.4 points
  • Reformed Political Party 3 0 seats 2.3% +0.1 points
  • Farmers' Party 3 2.1%
  • Reformed Political League 1 +1 seat 0.7% +0.1 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Netherlands 1959 general election, party by party.

76 of 150 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 31.9%

    Share of the vote won by Catholic People's Party

    Catholic People's Party won 50 of 150 seats. A majority needs 76.

  2. +2 seats

    Seats gained by Pacifist Socialist Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1959. Labour Party lost 5 seats.

  3. 95.1%

    Voter turnout

    Down 0.4 points on 1959.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Catholic People's Party50+131.9+0.31,995,352
Labour Party43−528.0−2.41,753,084
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy16−310.3−1.9643,839
Anti-Revolutionary Party13−18.7−0.7545,836
Christian Historical Union13+18.6+0.5536,801
Pacifist Socialist Party4+23.0+1.2189,373
Communist Party of the Netherlands4+12.8+0.4173,325
Reformed Political Party302.3+0.1143,818
Farmers' Party32.1133,231
Reformed Political League1+10.7+0.146,324
Largest party without seats00.637,554

± is the change against the Netherlands 1959 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Catholic People's Party 1,995,352
  • Labour Party 1,753,084
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 643,839
  • Anti-Revolutionary Party 545,836
  • Christian Historical Union 536,801
  • Pacifist Socialist Party 189,373
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands 173,325
  • Reformed Political Party 143,818
  • Farmers' Party 133,231
  • Reformed Political League 46,324
  • Largest party without seats 37,554

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

95.1% of the 6,748,611 registered voters cast a ballot (6,419,964 ballots), down 0.4 points on 1959. 6,258,521 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1952 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Catholic People's Party31.9% of votes33.3% of seats
  • Labour Party28.0% of votes28.7% of seats
  • People's Party for Freedom and Democracy10.3% of votes10.7% of seats
  • Anti-Revolutionary Party8.7% of votes8.7% of seats
  • Christian Historical Union8.6% of votes8.7% of seats
  • Pacifist Socialist Party3.0% of votes2.7% of seats
  • Communist Party of the Netherlands2.8% of votes2.7% of seats
  • Reformed Political Party2.3% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Farmers' Party2.1% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Reformed Political League0.7% of votes0.7% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 1.3 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 4.8 by votes and 4.5 by seats; Catholic People's Party led Labour Party by 3.9 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of